Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:38 a.m. CDT

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — Decades after a devastating fire caused by a dropped sparkler led Iowa to ban fireworks, the explosives are now legal in the state. But fireworks retailers and people eager to set off the explosives are finding that many local officials remain keenly aware of that fire so many years ago.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man who helped write the computer code behind several U.S. lotteries, including some of its biggest, has pleaded guilty to masterminding a scheme through which he rigged the winning numbers for jackpots in several states and collected millions of dollars. Eddie Tipton, who rose to be the Multi-State Lottery Association’s computer information security director before his 2015 arrest, described his lead role in the scheme for the first time Thursday during a hearing in Des Moines, Iowa.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A U.S. wrestler who spent years in prison for a sexual assault he denies testified Thursday that he was pressured by his coach and lawyers to waive his right to a jury trial. Jordan Holm is seeking a new trial based on claims that he received ineffective assistance from his lawyers. Holm, 35, was convicted of sexually assaulting a University of Iowa student after an off-campus party in 2002.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has denied an Alabama-based company’s attempt to block Des Moines from restricting where fireworks can be sold within city limits. The Des Moines Register reports that the court on Thursday denied the company’s petition for an emergency injunction. American Promotional Events is suing to block Des Moines from limiting the sale of fireworks to industrial zones.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five people were arrested this week, as of Thursday. Four of those arrested were taken into custody on warrants. They include: 25-year old Alan Wayne Shomaker, of Council Bluffs, who was wanted for Failure to Appear in Court (Bond $25,000); 43-year old Douglas Allen Hastie, of Glenwood, for Driving While Barred (Bond $2,000); 38-year old Michelle Marie Arellano, of Glenwood, was arrested on a warrant for OWI/1st offense (Bond $1,000), and 61-year old George Russell Synacek, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a warrant for Violation of Probation (Bond $2,000).

Also arrested in Mills County, was 28-year old Aaron Wade Opdyke, of Emerson, who was taken into custody Wednesday for three counts of Harassment in the 1st Degree. His bond was set at $6,000.

Officers with the Red Oak Police Department, Thursday evening, arrested 45-year old Timothy Ray Bressler, of Red Oak, on drug charges. Bressler was taken into custody just before 6-p.m. and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He was being held in the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center on a $1,000 cash bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has appointed a district associated judge to fill a vacant district court judgeship. Adria Kester, of Ogden, will fill the seat formerly held by Judge Gary L. McMinimee, of Carroll.

Kester will be the first woman district court judge for Iowa Judicial District 2B, which covers much of central and northern Iowa. Kester received her law degree from Drake University and earned her undergraduate degree from Iowa State University. She currently serves as a district associate judge in Judicial District 2B.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrects said Thursday (today), that a man serving time for robbery and burglary convictions out of Pottawattamie County, allegedly assault a staff member at the Newton Correction Facility, Wednesday morning. Authorities identified the offender as John Doyle Watson, whose sentence began Feb.7th, 2014.

The incident happened at around 9-a.m.  Another offender initially arrived on the scene to assist the staff member, followed immediately by corrections staff who were nearby. The staff member was seen by health services at the prison, then was taken to the local hospital, and is now released.

Watson is serving time for robbery and burglary from Pottawattamie County.  His sentence began on February 7, 2014.

An accident involving a UTV in Atlantic Thursday afternoon resulted in one person being transported to the hospital. Atlantic Police Lt. Paul Wood told KJAN News the driver of the vehicle was traveling south on Mulberry at the intersection with 10th Street and failed to stop at the stop sign. He struck some guys wires to a utility pole on the south side of 10th Street, causing the 4-wheel machine to flip and land on a residential driveway. The driver was ejected from the machine and transported to the hospital. According to reports, he was later flown by helicopter to an Omaha hospital. Witnesses told police the man was traveling faster than the posted speed limit prior to the crash.

The accident, which happened a little before 5-p.m., remains under investigation. No other information, including the man’s name, was immediately available.

photo by KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

The Fourth of July holiday weekend is typically one of the busiest times of the year on Iowa’s waterways and law enforcement officers are planning to target boaters who’ve been drinking. Dustin Eighmy is a conservation officer with the Iowa DNR. This weekend, he’ll be patrolling Saylorville Lake near Des Moines. “We’re looking for anyone not having the proper lookout, they’re boating too closely to other boaters, they’re speeding through no wake zones, and when we stop them – we’re looking for the slurred speech, watery eyes, the smell of alcohol, and beer cans in there,” Eighmy said.

DNR Water Patrol boat

Iowa DNR officers are ramping up enforcement efforts this weekend as part of the national Operation Dry Water campaign. Susan Stocker, boating law administrator and education coordinator for the Iowa DNR, says the goal is decrease crashes and deaths. “During 2016, we had a total of 46 boating while intoxicated arrests here in Iowa,” Stocker said. “On a national level, 17-percent of (boating) fatalities involve alcohol, but in Iowa, our rate is 33-percent.”

Six people were killed in Iowa in boat crashes last year. Two of those crashes involved alcohol. In Iowa, it’s illegal to operate a vessel with a blood alcohol level (BAC) of point-oh-eight (.08) or higher – the same as it is to drive a car. Jeff Swearngin, chief of the Iowa DNR law enforcement bureau, says alcohol tends to impair judgment and reaction time even greater on the water.

“When you’re on the water, the effects of alcohol get amplified by the wave action, the wind, the sun, dehydration – you don’t realize how much effect you have with that alcohol,” Swearngin said. “We’re looking to take those folks off the water. The folks who are out there drinking, getting drunk and driving their boat around – they’re not just endangering themselves and their families, but other people who are on the water.”

Boating while intoxicated is not only dangerous, Eighmy notes it can also be expensive. “A BWI fine can up to $1,000 and they can lose their boating privileges up to a year,” Eighmy said. “They’re going to spend a night in jail if they go with us. If you refuse, it’s an automatic $500.”

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The chair of the Iowa Democratic Party says he has resigned from the job because of health issues. Derek Eadon says in a news release that he stepped down Thursday because he was diagnosed recently with what he described as a painful ailment. Treatment will require radiation procedures over the summer.

Eadon says his health has caused him to miss too much time on the job and it’s important for the party chair to dedicate all his or her attention to the work. Eadon was elected by a party committee to the position in January. He replaced Andy McGuire, who has since launched a gubernatorial campaign.

Andrea Phillips, 1st vice chair of the party, will assume Eadon’s role until party leadership meets July 22 to elect a permanent replacement.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A former lottery computer programmer has pleaded guilty in Iowa to running a criminal scheme that allowed him to collect millions of dollars in lottery winnings in four other states. Former Multi-State Lottery Association security director Eddie Tipton on Thursday admitted that he manipulated the computer software he designed, allowing him to provide winning numbers to his brother and others.

Tipton, his brother Tommy Tipton and Texas businessman Robert Rhodes will repay $2.2 million in prizes they improperly claimed in Colorado, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Kansas. Iowa prosecutors will ask for a 25-year prison sentence for Eddie Tipton.

Tommy Tipton also pleaded guilty Thursday in Iowa and was sentenced to 75 days in jail.